Chapter 30 — Blood Refinement
Two weeks later.
Li Tianyu was sitting inside the inn when the Communication Gu in his aperture suddenly trembled.
A message entered his mind.
Meet me at the city gate.
The sender was Fang Yuan.
Li Tianyu immediately stopped cultivating.
He rose and left the room.
By the time he reached the city gate, Fang Yuan was already waiting.
The moment Li Tianyu arrived, he noticed something different.
Fang Yuan's expression was calm as always.
But there was a strange depth hidden within his eyes.
Li Tianyu's gaze swept over him.
Then his expression changed slightly.
'Rank Three Peak Stage.'
Fang Yuan's cultivation had risen again.
Li Tianyu couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
'As expected of a former Venerable.'
He had only recently reached Rank Two Peak.
Yet Fang Yuan...
Had already reached Rank Three Peak.
Of course, Li Tianyu understood that cultivation wasn't the only reason for such a difference.
Fang Yuan possessed an incomparably profound foundation.
His experience, attainments, Gu worms, killer moves, and countless methods were all far beyond what his current cultivation should have allowed.
Fang Yuan glanced at him.
"Stay here and observe."
Li Tianyu raised an eyebrow.
"Observe?"
Fang Yuan didn't explain.
He simply stepped forward.
Then—
His hands moved.
One hand sign.
Then another.
Then another.
The movements were fast.
Yet each one was precise.
Li Tianyu's eyes gradually narrowed.
Something was wrong.
The surrounding heaven and earth suddenly began to tremble.
A faint crimson glow appeared in the sky.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
At first, it was barely noticeable.
Then...
The entire sky turned red.
"What is happening?"
"What is that?"
"Look at the sky!"
The streets immediately erupted into commotion.
Pedestrians stopped.
Merchants left their shops.
Gu Masters looked toward the heavens in confusion.
Even visitors from outside the city raised their heads.
"What kind of phenomenon is this?"
"Is it a natural disaster?"
"Activate the defensive Gu!"
"Something is wrong!"
The more perceptive Gu Masters immediately sensed the enormous fluctuations of Gu essence.
Several Rank Four and Rank Five Gu Masters flew into the sky.
Some activated flying Gu.
Others stood on flying beasts.
A few even used investigative methods to examine the surroundings.
Then...
They froze.
One of them stared toward the distant horizon.
His face gradually turned pale.
"Formation..."
"What?"
"There's a formation surrounding the entire city!"
The words spread rapidly.
Panic erupted.
"Who placed it?!"
"How did nobody notice?!"
"Quick! Break the formation!"
Several Gu Masters immediately attacked the surrounding formation.
But their attacks disappeared into the crimson light.
The formation didn't even tremble.
Then—
The sky darkened.
A gigantic blood-red moon slowly emerged above the city.
It hung high in the heavens.
Its crimson light descended upon the streets below.
For a brief moment...
The entire city became strangely silent.
Li Tianyu looked upward.
His pupils contracted.
This wasn't an ordinary formation.
Tens of thousands of Gu worms had been arranged throughout the city.
Some were hidden beneath the streets.
Some were buried underground.
Others had been placed within buildings, walls, and even the surrounding terrain.
Together...
They formed an enormous formation that enveloped the entire city.
'When did he set this up?'
Li Tianyu's heart tightened.
He immediately understood.
Fang Yuan hadn't simply arrived here today.
He had been preparing for this.
Perhaps for days.
Perhaps even longer.
The formation suddenly activated.
Boom!
A violent pressure descended from the heavens.
The city shook.
Then—
Fang Yuan raised his hand.
The first killer move descended.
A gigantic tornado appeared within the city.
It swept through the streets with terrifying speed.
Buildings collapsed.
Trees were uprooted.
Gu Masters were dragged into the storm before being torn apart.
"Run!"
"Get out of the city!"
"Break the formation!"
The city descended into chaos.
Some Gu Masters attempted to flee.
Others attacked the formation.
A Rank Five Gu Master roared and unleashed a powerful killer move toward the sky.
The attack exploded against the crimson barrier.
Nothing happened.
The Rank Five Gu Master's expression changed.
"Impossible..."
Before he could react—
A rain of enormous ice blades descended from the sky.
Countless blades pierced through the streets.
The Gu Master barely managed to dodge the first wave.
Then the second came.
Then the third.
The entire city became a slaughterhouse.
Fang Yuan stood outside the formation.
His hands continued moving.
One killer move after another was activated.
Fire.
Ice.
Wind.
Earth.
Lightning.
Each attack was different.
Yet all of them were incorporated into the enormous formation.
Tornadoes swept through entire streets.
Ice blades descended like a storm.
Lightning fell from the crimson heavens.
Flames spread across buildings.
Massive chunks of earth erupted from beneath the ground.
The inhabitants had nowhere to escape.
The formation covered everything.
There was no safe direction.
No blind spot.
No path out.
The stronger Gu Masters resisted for longer.
Rank Four.
Rank Five.
Some even attempted to join forces.
But they were fighting against Fang Yuan's carefully prepared formation.
Their resistance was meaningless.
One by one...
They fell.
The screams gradually became fewer.
The streets that had been filled with noise became silent.
The bustling city...
Was reduced to ruins.
And then—
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Li Tianyu stood outside the formation.
His expression was solemn.
He had expected Fang Yuan to be ruthless.
But seeing an entire city slaughtered in such a short period still left him somewhat shaken.
Fang Yuan, however...
Didn't even look at the corpses.
His attention was focused entirely on the formation.
The blood-red moon above the city became increasingly bright.
Then—
Something strange happened.
The corpses scattered throughout the city began to tremble.
Their blood slowly seeped from their bodies.
Streams of crimson liquid rose into the air.
Then another.
And another.
Soon...
The blood of countless people began converging toward the center of the formation.
The entire city seemed to have become a gigantic blood pool.
Li Tianyu's eyes narrowed.
'He's refining something.'
His Master Level Fire Path and Refinement Path attainment immediately allowed him to see the general structure of the process.
The enormous formation wasn't merely for slaughter.
The slaughter itself was only one part of the process.
The countless lives, blood, flesh, and Gu worms within the city had all become refinement materials.
Fang Yuan stood at the center of it all.
His hands moved continuously.
The formation operated according to his will.
Countless refinement steps were carried out simultaneously.
Li Tianyu's expression gradually became more serious.
'This isn't ordinary refinement.'
He carefully observed the changes in the formation.
Blood Path.
Refinement Path.
The two were being combined.
And the target...
Li Tianyu's eyes narrowed.
'An Immortal Gu.'
More precisely...
A Blood Path Immortal Gu.
He could not determine its exact recipe.
Nor could he determine its final form.
But with his current Refinement Path attainment...
He could recognize the purpose behind the enormous refinement process.
Fang Yuan was using the entire city as a refinement site.
The people...
The Gu worms...
The beasts and resources...
The blood...
Everything had become part of the refinement.
Li Tianyu's gaze became increasingly solemn.
'So this was what he wanted.'
Fang Yuan had never cared about the city itself.
The city was merely a massive collection of refinement materials.
And now...
Every single one of those materials was being converted into nourishment for the Immortal Gu refinement.
The blood-red moon became brighter.
The blood flowing through the city converged faster.
The entire formation began to emit an increasingly terrifying aura.
Fang Yuan remained completely calm.
His hands formed another seal.
The refinement continued.
Li Tianyu silently watched.
He didn't interfere.
He simply stood there...
And observed how a form
er Venerable refined an Immortal Gu.
For Fang Yuan...
This was merely another step toward rebuilding his former foundation.
For Li Tianyu...
It was another glimpse into the terrifying methods of a man who had once stood at the absolute peak of the Gu World.